“I care about you. And Shannon, and keeping you both safe. Promise me you won’t go to Canada.”

She didn’t answer, only curled into him, then slid her arms around his waist and held on. And as her heat enveloped him, his heart took one hard roll. Because right then he knew she wasn’t going to do what he wanted. And that meant any plans he’d made for the next few days were going to take a drastic turn.

Hopefully not for the worst.

* * *

“What are you doing?”

Kate jumped from her spot on the floor in the living room and swiveled toward the stairs. Ryan stood on the bottom step, wearing nothing but faded denim low on his hips. His feet were bare, his eyes sleepy, and his blond hair had that tousled just-woke-up look.

She pressed a hand to her chest. “You scared me.”

He walked into the room. “You were expecting someone else?”

Early morning sunlight glinted off his bare chest. Her skin tingled as she remembered tracing the lines of those muscles last night with her fingers, with her lips.

“Katie?”

Tearing her gaze away from his exquisite male body, she glanced up at his amused face. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She turned back toward the stack of journals she’d been flipping through and bit her lip as heat crept up her face. Sex was supposed to sate a person, not turn them into a randy teenager.

He slid to the floor behind her, one leg on each side of hers. Warmth radiated from his body. She shivered, itching to be touched, wanting those hands on her like they’d been last night. When his fingers slipped around her waist, she drew in a breath and smiled as his lips grazed the nape of her neck.

That’s what she wanted. But oh, man. If he kept that up, she’d never get through these journals.

“There’s my shirt,” he said, trailing his hands under the cotton and up her ribcage to cup her bare breasts. “I was looking for it.”

Desire pooled in her core. A low fire built when he pinched her nipple. She swallowed hard. “Sorry. I just grabbed the first thing I saw.”

His chest vibrated at her back when he chuckled. “In the office? Across the hall? I think that’s where it landed when you ripped it off me last night.”

She bit back the smile, remembering the night before. She’d never been so aggressive, hadn’t known she could be so passionate. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the sensation as his teeth nibbled her neck and his hands continued to tease her breasts. “It’s soft. And it smells good. You can have it back in a minute if you want.”

“I do,” he mumbled against her. His hand grazed her hip, slid down between her thighs. “I don’t like waking up alone. I want you back in my bed.”

His fingers danced across her mound. Made her shiver with anticipation. “I think it’s my bed.”

“Minor technicality. What are you doing down here, anyway?”

She looked back at the journal splayed in front of her, tried not to moan as his finger rested against her clit. Even through the thin fabric of her panties, he had to feel how turned on she was. “I couldn’t get Dr. Murphy’s conversation out of my head.”

“Babe, don’t—”

“No, not that. He said he remembered reading something on a study about Tabofren. Ryan, I read it too.”

“You did?” He moved his hand from between her legs, reached for a journal in front of her.

She tried not to be disappointed she’d distracted him from touching her. After all, finding out what had happened to her was more important than another round of mind-blowing sex. Though at the moment—at any moment—mind-blowing sex sounded a hell of a lot more fun.

“Yeah. I remember because it sounded so cutting-edge. I know it’s in here somewhere.” She tossed the journal she’d been studying in a pile of others and grabbed a new one from the coffee table.

“What are you doing with all of these?”

“McKellen Publishing handles several scientific journals, including medical ones. Occasionally I’ll paw through them if something on the cover catches my eye. I know I saw it somewhere.” She glanced around the room and bit her lip. Journals littered the floor. She’d already been through all the ones she had at home.

She pushed to her feet. “I need to go into the publishing house today.”

Ryan rose. “No way.”

One look and she saw the worry in his eyes. Why did she have that strange feeling he was keeping something from her again?

“Ryan, I’ll be fine. I can check the database at work. The article I’m thinking of will be listed there. I need to find it.”

“I don’t want you going there. Not until we know who’s connected to this.”

Fighting him on this wasn’t going to help. He was stubborn and domineering and way too sexy standing there in her living room for her to want to argue with him.

Biting her lip, she rested the palms of her hands on his chest and tipped her eyes up. “You could come with me.”

His hand slid up to cover hers. “Teasing me will not get you what you want.”

She moved closer, rose up on her toes, ran her lips softly over his. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not that easy.”

She laughed, trailed her lips across his jaw to his ear, pressed her body against his. His sharp intake of breath told her she was doing a good job at seducing him. His arms came around her, and the muscles in her stomach tightened when his lips caressed her neck. She felt his arousal against her hip.

“You can have your shirt back if you go with me,” she said in his ear.

He walked her forward until she bumped into the couch. Swift fingers streaked up under the hem of his shirt, whisking it over her head. It landed on the newel post. He flipped her around and bent her over the arm of the sofa. “I think I get my shirt back either way, babe.”

She gasped, then shuddered when his lips found her nape again, when his hand dipped between her legs. Then finally sighed when he stroked the fire already burning inside her and made her forget everything but him.

* * *

Kate slipped on her sunglasses as she stepped from Ryan’s Jag. She waited on the sidewalk with a frown while he took his sweet time. He’d been dragging his feet all morning, almost as if he didn’t want to help her after all.

He’d wasted time making her breakfast, had lured her into a long, hot shower where he’d washed her with his hands and tongue, then convinced her he had to stop at his house on the way in to change clothes and see the kids before they left again. It was now close to noon. Not that she was complaining about any of it, but she was itching to find that article. And his snail pace was grating on her nerves.

“You’re worse than a woman.”

He slipped the keys into his pocket. “Don’t start with me. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Okay, so he was worried. She could deal with that. Then why was that underlying feeling that there was more to this still eating at her? Shaking off the thought, she tucked her arm in his and pulled him toward her building. “Come on. We’ll be in and out. No one will even know we’re there.”

The office was abuzz when they stepped out of the elevator and onto Kate’s floor.

“Kate, you’re here. Thank goodness.” Jill scrambled from her desk, grabbing a handful of messages. “The phone has been ringing off the hook since Monday morning.”

Oh, great.

Kate glanced at Ryan. “Jill, this is Ryan.”

To his credit, Ryan said nothing about Jill’s nose ring. Or the plethora of tattoos up and down the twenty-something girl’s arms. “Hi.”

Jill’s gaze darted from Kate to Ryan and back again. Her eyes widened when she finally recognized him, and a silly grin spread across her face. “Oh. Hi.”

“Go on in, Ryan. I’ll just be a minute.” Kate motioned toward her office

When he was gone, Jill asked, “Is that who I think it is?”

“Yes.”

“Is he really your husband?”

“Looks that way. I’ll take those messages.” Kate pried the messages from Jill’s fingers.

“Oh.” Jill finally tore her gaze from Ryan, standing in her office. “And Tom’s looking for you.”

“How does he know I’m here?”

“Rumor mill. Honey, you’re practically a celebrity. And you go anywhere with Ryan Harrison, and people are going to talk.”

“Fabulous,” Kate muttered. She moved toward her office. “I’m not staying long. I just need to check on something. I’ll take a stack of work with me, but if anyone asks, I’m not here. Got it?”

“Sure. Hey, Kate?”

Kate stopped with one hand on the door.

“Is he as good as he looks?”

Kate feigned disgust. “You’re hopeless.” Then added with a smile, “Better.”

Ryan was studying the pictures on her shelf when she stepped into the room.

“Not as big as your office,” she said, closing the door behind her.

“Where was this taken?” He lifted a picture of Reed playing in the sand.

“On the gulf. He loves the beach.”

Emotions brewed in his eyes when they turned toward her. And, for the first time, she realized he’d lost time too. “I have more pictures at home. I can show you if you want.”

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. But his eyes were distant, almost as if he were holding something back. “I’d like that.” His voice changed before she could ask what was bothering him. “Where do we start?”

She moved to a shelf across the room and pulled out medical journals. “You can flip through these while I pull up the database on my computer.”

He dropped into a chair opposite her desk and lifted a stack. She scrolled through screens on her computer. The quiet hum of the outer office was the only sound in the room.